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Want to give a new unlocked phone for the holidays? Wireless Riot is having an incredible last-minute sale with savings in some cases over 50%. This applies to HTC’s Cavalier, Imate, LG’s Chocolate Platinum, Motorola’s KRZR and PEBL, Nokia, RIM’s Blackberry, Samsung Armani, and Sony Ericsson phones, as well as the iPhone, which has a last minute sale price of $548.99, a 25% savings. Use the code “HIELO2007” for an extra discount at checkout. (We like to share.)

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We’re very, very sad to report that one of our favorite retailers…CompUSA…will be closing all its stores. The financially troubled chain (which closed half its stores earlier this year) was just sold to Specialty Equity, an offshoot of Gordon Brothers Group, a private equity firm. On Friday, Specialty announced all remaining 103 CompUSA stores will close. Not surprisingly, competition from mega-chains Best Buy and Circuit City is to blame for CompUSA’s woes. There is good news however: Gordon Brothers promises an “orderly wind-down” of each store. Translation: expect major “Going Out of Business” bargains this holiday season. Thanks for everything, CompUSA….we’ll miss you!

Since the odds are slim to none that you can give a Kindle for Christmas, you may be able to opt for the Sony Reader, which has taken advantage of the situation and is offering 100 Classics from its Connect e-store. Simply purchase the device before January 31, have the recipient set up an account, and she/he will be credited for the amount. As a nice side note, the Reader is only $279.99 with free shipping, so that makes it a savings of $100.00 over the Kindle. You may not be able to access the Wall St. Journal, but since each Classic costs merely $2.00 apiece, that’s a lot of Shakespeare for the money.

Psssst! Looking for electronics at a nice discount? Click on over to Target.com’s Electronics section and scroll down to the link called “Pre-owned Electronics.” There you’ll find an assortment of items that have been returned to the store in the past month…at reduced prices. For instance, they currently have a 52” HD rear-projection TV for $1000 USD, much less than its original price of over $1700. What else can you find? More Hi-def TVs, video cameras, iPods, and video game consoles. Target claims each item has been refurbished and inspected—and backs it up with the same 90-day return policy new items get. Can’t beat that, because Holiday season is here, people…

All told, about 58 million bargain hunters rose before dawn to check out Black Friday. Welcome to Cyber Monday, another effort to get the moola out of your pocket and into online retailers when shoppers go back to work. Researches say that 61 million will shop online from their cubicles, which is 18 percent higher than last year, to avoid holiday rage.

To guard against online identity theft, watch for mass e-mails complaining there are problems with your order, use a credit rather than debit card, and check for site security (the site should read “https,” with that extra “s” for security.) Finally, if you use sites like Amazon, Shopzilla, BizRate, and NexTag, don’t automatically assume you will obtain a secure and safe purchase.

Retrovo is another site that makes your Black Friday shopping easier. The newly revamped site now features a search bar, a picture wheel of categories, a value map by ranges of price and features, and ratings by other consumers. With thousands of comparisons, you can read reviews, and browse manuals. They are offering some Black Friday TV deals such as Target’s 37-inch LCD for $549.00, a 42-inch 720p at Circuit City for $799.00, formerly $1,400.00, and Best Buy’s 42-inch HP-LC4276N that runs 1080p for $999.00, also regularly $1,400.00.

It would appear that Apple has gotten on the Black Friday bandwagon along with other online sites. The company is offering its Macbook at 11% off for only $974.00, 22% on Mac Pro closeouts for $1,849.00, as well as other models. If you are all about the tunes, you can receive 9% off on the iPod shuffle at $71.99, 10 % on the iPod touch for $269.99, an iPod nano is $134.99 after 10% off, and an iPod classic for $224.99, a 10% savings. There are also some accessories available at discounts with free shipping. All prices listed are after store discount and mail in rebate and are valid today only.

Dell has decided on a new “Star Power” strategy to get you what you want this season, as long as it is one of their products. After you create your wish list on YoursIsHere and set up a virtual piggy bank through a PayPal account, celebrities Burt Reynolds, Chuck Liddell, Brooke Burke, Estelle Harris, Ice-T, or Vivica A. Fox will try to obtain it for you. Create a widget on social networking sites and watch the coinage mount up. We like the concept, but think we will wait until it is duplicated by Apple or Sony.

All eBay fanatics will be pleased to know that now there is a Photo Studio for showcasing your wares. Made of nylon, polyester, and plastic, the 20 x 20 x 20-inch device comes with an integrated diffuser screen, a camera tripod, and light and dark backdrops. When you are done using it, just fold it up into its carrying case. The deluxe model comes equipped with two high-output lights on adjustable legs. If the $29.98 or $59.98 price is too much, you can DIY, like this one from freshfodder made out of an empty Corona carton.

Are you the type that faithfully buys a lotto ticket every week in the hopes of being the one in a billion to become instantly rich? This should be right up your alley. Amazon is offering 18 products that you can bid on by one vote per round. If you are fortunate enough to be picked at random, you will win the item at the end of 6 rounds.

Last year, lucky winners of the Customer Vote got an Xbox 360 Core for $100.00 and a Wii and PS3 at MSRP. Because there was a site overload last year, the company has worked to make sure the same problems will not happen during the promotion this time around. The items will be on display at Amazon beginning this Thursday and voting is to commence on Thanksgiving, Nov. 22, and will run through the 28th. Grab a turkey drumstick and let the games begin.